Sullivan and Wilimovsky Win 1500s on Day 1 of MVN Meet of Champions

2019 MISSION VIEJO SWIM MEET OF CHAMPIONS

On the opening day of the annual Fran Crippen Meet of Champions, hosted by the Mission Viejo Nadadores, national teamers Erica Sullivan and Jordan Wilimovsky were crowned the first champions of the meet in the 1500s.

Taking the first win of the meet was 18-year-old Sullivan, earning the top spot with a 16:13.74. Earlier at the Clovis PSS stop, the Sandpipers of Nevada swimmer swam a lifetime best of 15:55.25. Currently, her lifetime best is the 4th-fastest time in the world, 3rd-fastest time in 17-18 US age group history, and the 2nd-fastest American time this year.

Sullivan was followed by Riverside’s 17-year-old Liberty Williams, touching in at 16:52.95. Third went to Sun Devil’s Kendall Dawson, flirting with the 17-minute mark at 17:01.58. 14-year-old Mattea Sokolow of Team Santa Monica finished in fourth with a 17:06.40, knocking off nearly 20 seconds from her lifetime best.

Later on, Team Santa Monica’s Jordan Wilimovsky won the men’s 1500 with his 3rd race of 2019 in a 15:15.99. His season best time stands at a 15:05.44 from the Des Moines PSS, just cracking the top 20 times in the world. Finishing in second was Sandpipers of Nevada’s Brennan Gravley with a lifetime best of 15:19.59, moving him into the all-time top 40 for the 17-18 age group. Gravley is also the 4th-fastest American this year.

Mission Viejo’s Michael Brinegar rounded out the top 3 with a 15:26.77.  Brinegar’s season best of 15:10.53 is the second-fastest time in the US behind Wilimovsky. National teamer True Sweetser finished in fifth with a 15:37.04 while 2008 Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli, 35, took ninth with a 15:49.07.

Tomorrow, the 50 back, 200 fly, 100 free, 200 breast, and 400 free will be contested. The 50 back prelims begin at 8:30 am PT while the remaining prelims are scheduled for 8:55 am PT. The finals session will begin at 5 pm PT, including the 50 back semi-finals and finals.

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PAC SWIM FAN
5 years ago

Someone was complaining earlier this week that Erica won to a weak field at Clovis (by about a minute). But here, with like 23 additional swimmers, she still won by 40 seconds (2nd place was about the same as Clovis).

(Erica’s swim at Clovis was amazing: she had a couple body lengths lead by the 50 and never stopped to look back! I’d never really closely watched an 800 or 1500 before that race.)

manoj ghimire
5 years ago

what about 2nd day prelims?

joe
5 years ago

Ous Mellouli still out here! Props to him for swimming the 1500 at 35

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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